The European Association of Surfing Doctors (EASD)

PRESENTS

“The Surfing Medicine Global Outreach Report 2015”

The European Association of Surfing Doctors (EASD) is proud to present the 2nd Surfing Medicine International Community Global Outreach Report. The EASD is a medical, non-profit organization grounded in a commitment to excellence, in the application of state-of-art knowledge, evidence-based science, and transparency to surfer welfare, and in staging 100% certified Continued Medical Education (CME) educational events.

Since our founding four years ago, 120 projects have been successfully realized. We started out with “A Passion for Surfing and Medicine”; with time, dedication, and a lot of hard work, we have developed into the leading medical organization committed to “Keeping the Surfer Healthy and Safe”.

EASD Global Outreach 2015, only a few white spots left!

Presently, professionals from 31 countries working 24/7 on original science and surfing medicine research are establishing the foundations and necessary framework for new, evidence-based standards within surfing, and implementing the gained knowledge and experience won in order to contribute meaningfully to the further improvement and professionalization of surfing medicine and the sport we love dearly. From 373 in 2014, we have grown to 510 members in 2015, representing the largest community of surfing doctors worldwide.

In 2014, the EASD reached out to the big wave community by “Taking Surfing Medicine to the Extreme” at the 3rd Annual Surfing Medicine Conference in Ireland. Designed and delivered by 2013 Billabong XXL Finalist, Peter Conroy, the EASD organized the world’s first multiple-specialization, medical-response PWC rescue training for surfing, sharing our knowledge, experience, and defining new standards and approaches to the safety, prevention, and treatment of emergency situation in big wave surfing.

Convening Conferences with unique people, realizing projects new to the world of medicine and surf science, and consistently exceeding the expectation of expert collaborators; by building on the knowledge of hundreds of medical doctors, academic professors and applied scientists, allied health professionals, and educating the surfing public, whether the everyday surfer or top professional surfing athletes, the EASD is growing from strength-to-strength year on year.

With 2015 well under way, the EASD and the Surfing Medicine International community is once again preparing for the gathering of minds and surfboards at the 4th Annual Surfing Medicine Conference. This year, returning to “The Core of Surfing Medicine”, we are unifying the world’s leading experts on drowning prevention and delivering another first in the form of the world’s largest Drowning Resuscitation Workshop yet seen. Stoked? We are too!

See you in Pays Basque (France) at Conference 2015 in Anglet/Biarritz this September!

The EASD

“Preparation is key to staying safe” by Peter Conroy

Developing robust ‘in-the-surf’ safety procedures, like those we employ for fighting fires and tackling other emergencies, has long been a personal goal of mine. Surfing safety is quite new to Ireland, as is surfing. Devising procedures for safety in the surf is, relatively speaking, in its infancy. I am, as are other big wave riders globally, still learning what’s best.

It takes many years to learn to surf capably. You are required to learn many things; when to go, when to wait, and always, to risk assess your situation. Years accumulate before you acquire such skills and any degree of competency. Through my experience as a fireman and a rescue operator in the surf, I have lost and saved many lives. I have worked so hard – to the point of physical exhaustion – in rescue scenarios. And why; what is it that drives rescuers do this? It’s not the money, or glory, nor fame of any sort. It’s the knowledge that they have done everything in their power to save someone’s life. Not simply for their own sake, but also for the family and friends of those involved. There is nothing worse than confronting a lifeless body, after pulling from the water, after working so hard in an attempt to save and revive them. That experience is harrowing. The look on friends faces, the anguished scream of a family member. This is something that stays with you forever, something I would not wish upon anyone.

So picture your friend’s face, perhaps a surf buddy. Now hold onto that image for a moment. Now imagine them gone, drowned whilst you were surfing together. A terrible thought, but now consider, could they have been saved by doing something relatively simple?

Saving someone is the easy part. It happens, and you move on. It’s when you can’t save them, and somebody dies, that remains with you for the rest of your life. Sometimes you blame yourself, ruminating “Did I do everything correctly …Could I have done something different?” If I have learned anything in all my years as a lifeguard, paramedic, fire-fighter, swift water rescuer, big wave surfer, and rescue jet-ski/boat operator, equipped with training and practice in each discipline, it’s that things never happen as you read in the book! When it comes down to the wire and the ‘shit-hits-the-fan’ only hands-on training and practical experience get you through. What’s more, it all comes back to basics.

The first basic principle is self safety! Only when you are safe, can you begin to think about another person. This is often forgotten when accidents happen. The hero inside, that’s yearning to help someone else, ends up throwing their own safety aside in the process. In an emergency, be it in or out of the water, the most important person in a rescue attempt is YOU. Without YOU there is no rescue. Ensure before any attempt to help that you are both physically and mentally capable to do so. You might be required to resist and overcome the casualty, who is most probably in a state of shock or panicking. The victim will not act rationally or sensibly. They may even attack, or in the case of drowning, use his/her rescuer as a ladder, believing this will actually help them escape danger.

Always be prepared by planning ahead. Ask yourself the following questions. Have you taken a CPR class? Do you know how to do in-water resuscitation? What are you going to do once the victim is ashore? Have you called for help? Who’s coming to assist you should you get into difficulty trying to get back to shore? These are essential questions any surfer ought to ask themselves before going to help someone in distress, and in particular when surfing dangerous, often remote, surf spots with challenging access. The more dangerous the surf spots are, the higher the risks associated with them. You have to realistically consider whether you are adequately prepared for these risks. One can never completely remove risk in surfing, but risk can be minimised by preplanning what to do in the event of plausible occurrences, e.g. drowning, a broken back, a broken leg, burst eardrum, lacerations, etc.

Do you have access to a jet-ski? Have you received training and instruction on how to properly operate that ski? Regardless of where you stand on the tow-in versus paddle argument, the jet-ski, when operated by an appropriately trained individual, is a powerful tool to assist rescue. Similarly, and something more immediately attainable, such as a basic lifesaving or first aid course could be the difference between saving and losing a life.

We are blessed that no one has been killed to date on these shores, and that there have been relatively few major injuries. However, with the envelope being continually pushed, and more dangerous surf spots attempted, I fear the luck of the Irish is going to run out before long. When that day comes, I hope all involved can look back and say that they reasonably did everything within their power to save the unfortunate person, or at least give them a fighting chance. The principles of resuscitation and CPR are covered in any accredited basic first aid course. If you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail. There are numerous courses on lifeguarding and first aid held regularly and readily accessible. A lack of skills in dealing with a rescue situation in a dangerous place could quite conceivably lead to a needless death, possibly even that of a friend. As unpalatable as that may sound, it pales in comparison to having to look into the faces of family and friends knowing you did not have the relatively simple skills and training to deal with the situation.

Trust me when I say ‘I have been there’, I have stood in court, in the dock, with a victim’s family looking on, and have been asked whether I did everything that could be done. From the training and courses I have undertaken, both professionally for my job and pursuant to my lifestyle choices in surfing, I believe I have built up the necessary skills and competency to honestly say to that, or any other, family: “I did everything in my power to save your loved one. Everything”

When you go out to surf, it’s not your surfing ability that will save someone’s life. It is your basic life support and basic lifesaving skills and experience in white water that will.

So if your friend wipes out on a wave and comes up face-down in the water, what are you going to do? Knowing the basics could make the difference.

Take time-out from your surfing to learn these invaluable lifesaving skills, professional and recreational surfers alike. There will always be waves for you to play on – Forever. The same length of time you’ll feel responsible if someone dies who could have been saved had you only known how.

Peter Conroy is an EASD Ambassador, big wave surfer, current nominee and former Billabong XXL Finalist (2013). He is a Fireman and Paramedic with Dublin Fire Brigade. Peter is a certified Beach Lifeguard Instructor and jet-ski/rescue boat operator. He is also Chair Person of the Irish Tow Surf Rescue Club. Peter has previously lectured on the topic of Jet-Ski Assisted Rescue and Safety in Big Wave Surfing, and delivered a practical jet-ski workshop, at the Third Annual Conference in Surfing Medicine (2014). He will co-instruct surf lifesaving and rescue techniques at the upcoming ASLS Course 2015 later this year.

I’ve been out of the water for three months because I had ear surgery for my surfer’s ear, but I have been back in the water already for the last ten days. It has been fun, there has been lots of north swells coming in. With lots of things going on today though I’m not going into the water, it’s actually freezing and there is fresh snow on the beach, so I’ll just stay dry today.

How long have you been surfing and what got you into surfing?

My dad has got me into surfing as he was one of the first surfers in Holland, with a handful of guys who started surfing the north sea. They came in touch with surfing on their school holidays down in Biarritz, France, and saw some Australian guys surfing that coast – the Southwest. And when they got home they saw that you could surf here in The Hague. They started to keep an eye on it and started making their own boards and went in in scuba suits. This is going back almost 40 years ago now. He was very early. Also European wise he was definitely one the first. He would travel around Europe visiting all the different spots like Spain, Portugal and France. After a couple of years he got into it so much and developed a passion, so when I was born we would go on surfing holidays. My mother wouldn’t surf, but she would climb, so we would go to the Southwest of France and surf and then head into the Pyrenees to go on canyoning tours. Certainly not the normal course of life for someone coming from Holland.

I guess this explains to some part why you’re doing so well in competition these days.

There have been other pros before from Holland but I don’t think anyone has been on the level and course I am now with the surfing career.

So how is life as a professional surfer?

It’s definitely weird, and it’s not like it is in the US where if you are a sports person or athlete they worship you already. Here we’re a bit different, it’s not normal – we should find a proper job. My parents are very supportive but my whole environment never says – “ok you can do this, this is possible, you can grow into your surfing.” There is a close group of us who are supportive but all the way through school I always thought I needed to go to university and study and do something like economics, but looking back I’m really happy I didn’t do that. That was kind of a hard choice for me though, living in Holland and coming from my environment I had a feeling I had to do that, I had a sort of feeling I was conditioned in that way I guess. So when I went to study though, I decided that actually I want to give surfing a shot, and since that choice I’ve just been growing into a surfing career more and more and it’s been opening up a lot of things for me. This conditioning is funny though because in my mind it was not possible and for me that gap was pretty big.

When did you turn pro?

First I was just semi pro through 17,18,19 then I turned pro 19/20. Now I’m 25.

What are the best bits about being pro?

The traveling is definitely amazing, I have seen some really special places in Indonesia, Mexico, all over. In Indonesia I went to the Tenau islands, the Mentawis and Java, Lombok and Bali – obviously, it was very special. I also like competing, but like I said before I didn’t come from an environment where becoming a pro surfer was normal. Like in France or Spain or Portugal it was a lot more normal to be a pro surfer. There are lots of surfers and there is actually a way to become a pro surfer, because of the competitions and things like that. I didn’t have as much experience at competing, I had some, but at a very different level. So it was big transition and a big challenge going to international level, the world qualifying series (WQS). It was very interesting and enjoyable too.

What has been your competition highlight?

I came fifth in the WQS event in Portugal and I beat some of the bigger names in European surfing and then last year in the Vendee, France, I reached the quarter finals of one of the biggest events in the series, again beating some of the best European surfers. That for me was pretty big accomplishment.

Any other highlights?

Other than that I have been focusing a lot on my video project with my sponsor Protest. Me and a friend set up the latest North Sea video and Protest sponsored it. That is something I enjoy the most, traveling to unique places – we flew to Edinburgh and then up to the North to *secret locations*, it was great. I loved it – it was so remote and quiet and you get the waves to yourself and the waves themselves are amazing. We surfed Northeast England as well on some beautiful reefs. It’s amazing that I have only surfed this [Dutch] side of the North Sea and then that side is so close and the waves are so much better over there – some world class reefs and much more powerful swells. The main thing about Holland is that the sea bed is so shallow so the waves lose a lot of their power. You don’t have that problem over there.

How did you get involved with the EASD?

I met Arvid’s brother [Kjeld] in Costa Rica who has a surf resort there. He noticed I was getting some exposure in the Dutch media and he wanted to promote his surf resort, which is going really well now. So I had a photo shoot in Costa Rica and I went for a couple of days when he was setting up the resort and we stayed together and had a lot of fun and kept in touch. Then Arvid was involved in setting up the EASD and he approached me. We had a beer, we clicked, had a good conversation and that’s pretty much the way it went. I really liked what they were doing and how they were doing it. That was an easy decision to become an ambassador – I get a lot from the sport and would like to give something back in whatever way that can be.

What is it about EASD that you liked most that you’ve seen so far?

I like their model. I think the professionalism they show is great and the organization they have is pretty unique in the surfing world. But other than that I think they are setting up some really cool things now and think that they could contribute massively to the sport – to surfing injuries but also remote locations and the people at those remote locations. Also, one of the EASD members [Frederique Elffers Tan, ENT specialist] helped me out with my surfer’s ear operation. Through a friend of mine who is a physiotherapist at an institute down here which is like a whole health institute – called “Healthy at sea”, actually that sounds better in Dutch [“Gezond aan zee”] – but anyway she gave me a contact and I made the call. There weren’t any doctors who had experience in operating on surfer’s ear in Holland, but she was a surfer and was connected to the EASD and she hooked me up with one of the best ear surgeons in Holland. I was still in doubt as to whether I should have the operation but I talked to him and four days later I was on the operating table getting it sorted.

Were you getting a lot of problems from your surfer’s ear?

Because I have been surfing from such a young age in such cold water it just developed. I don’t know how fast, but the knowledge about it is still not that much in terms of how or how fast it grows. They know some of it but there is still a lot to be unraveled. It didn’t affect me that much initially, but three years ago I had a massive infection when I was down in France in Hossegor when I was there for some obligations to my sponsor Nike at the time. All of a sudden I got an infection in my ear that got worse and worse. I also had a cold at that time and they go worse together. I just kept on surfing and doing my thing until I couldn’t hear anything with my right ear. When I was sleeping in bed one night all this green stuff started coming out of my ear, which was all swollen and my face was swollen and I knew that something was wrong. I went to the doctor and he couldn’t see anything because of this massive infection. I always knew I had it but didn’t realize it could get that bad. I knew I wanted to get home so I drove all the way on my own – about a 10-11 hour drive with a fever, I could barely see straight. When I got home I went to the hospital and they didn’t know what was going on with all the bone growth in my ear and they had trouble removing the infection, which took about a month and a half to get rid of. I knew then there was a big trouble with my ear. Both ears in fact, but I have only had the right side operated on so far. The left side will have to be done too, but I will wait till I get problems with that one first. The doctor that saw me at the time of the infection in France, I didn’t have a very good feeling about. I had done a lot of research myself and I knew it was a specific thing, surfer’s ear. He said he had heard about it and he had a few patients but I didn’t trust him. I had the feeling that he saw me as just a project so I decided to look for someone else.

Have you had any big injuries from surfing?

Actually I’ve been kind of lucky *knocks on wood* and I try to keep it that way. Other than the surfer’s ear I’ve been very lucky. I’ve had some foot injuries from skateboarding and snowboarding but other than that it’s going pretty well. There are definitely more and more injuries these days in surfing though, as people surf bigger, and bigger waves on shallow reefs especially. Also the technical maneuvers in surfing are progressing each day and they bring more risk as people get air, rotate and then land on the flat parts of the waves. You certainly see more injuries today than you did 10 years ago.

What does Surfing Medicine mean to you?

I think it could contribute to surfing injuries that happen a lot. I also think it will help surfers that travel to remote locations, tropical locations, cold water locations, etc. Improving prevention of certain injuries or the treatment of surfers with tropical diseases will also be a big thing I think.

What are your plans next?

I’m looking to start a new video project with the guys I did ‘Stories From Here to There’ with. I’m looking at the possibilities of several destinations – cold water and tropical destinations. My people want to get colder, maybe Norway and Iceland, back to Scotland but also some tropical stuff too I hope. Other than that it will be sponsorship obligations like photo shoots and things like that. I’m also starting some new sponsorships which may involve some product development. The next competition is not until August – the WQS event in Europe. I only do the European leg and the first event will be the relentless board masters in Newquay. I’ll also be going to the conference in October in Portugal. Other than that I’m not sure what other plans are in the pipeline with the EASD, but I’m meeting soon with Arvid to arrange some more things. I’m looking forward to seeing where the EASD is going. Other than just being an organization they could really do a lot of stuff that could make a difference and I’m really looking forward to being a part of it.

What do you think the biggest difference is that the EASD could make and what they could focus on in the future?

In a lot of areas I guess, like prevention medicine and the treatment of injuries and things. But I think for me the most interesting part would be to give something back to surfing. We could use surfing as a tool to treat patients that already have problems, like disabled people to help them get in to the water when they otherwise couldn’t, that would be a cool thing to do – what surfing could actually mean for people with disease or injuries, people could really benefit from that. Also helping the local people in remote locations, that would be a good way to give something back.

The EASD is very happy to proclaim Yannick de Jager as our first pro surfing Ambassador to support the EASD.

Yannick (25) is currently the best surfer from the Netherlands and takes part in WQS competitions around Europe. This season he reached the quarter finals of the 3-star Vendee Pro event, beating some of the world’s best surfers. Another highlight of Yannick in 2012 was his online video project ”Stories from here to There”, that surprised and heavily impressed international surf media all over the world.

Being a talented pro surfer who is performing on full time basis and being inevitably concerned about health, injuries, traveling issues, and protection the EASD is having confidence in Yannick as a representative of our cause. By teaming up with athletes the EASD will be able to translate knowledge and experience from the professional surfing world to the wide recreational surfing community.

More than the average focused on knowledge about the human body, Yannick possesses quite detailed information on surf related health issues based on personal experiences and interest. With his enthusiasm and passionate motivation to give something back from what he received from surfing, the EASD is lucky to have him on board.